Rotary drive mechanism



2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 V. V1. ZILEN.v Rormy DR 1 VE Mz-:cMANI 5M. FILED Aue. 26, 1921` wwwa Patented Dec.; .26, T9Z2 Mal-@26T UNTTEE STATES PATENT @EETCEO VICTOR W. ZILEN, vOE CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, ASSTGNOR TO LUCEY MANUFAC- TUBING CORPORATION, 0F NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION OF TENNESSEE.

ROTARY DRIVE MECHANISM.

Application led. August 26, 1921. Serial No'. 495,615.

To all whom t may con-cern.'

Be it known that I, VIc'roR lV. ZILEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chattanooga,'in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, vhave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Drive Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to a rotary drive mechanism for use in the rotary drilling of oil wells and has for its principal object the provision of mechanism to transmit power from the source of power to the rotary table without the use of idlers, such idlers adding considerable lost motion and resulting in unnecessary wear and tear on the derrick structure.

A. further object of the invention is to provide mechanism in which the resultant of thei driving forces is at a point near the ground level so that 4the vibrations in the structure will be reduced to a minimum.

A further object of the' present invention is to provide some means to enable the en gineer to rigidly connect the prime mover to the base which carries the drive shaft, such means in the drawings being illustrated as lugs or anges carried by the sills, corresponding lugs or flanges on the engine base and distance pieces between the lugs, held in place preferably by bolts extending from lug to lug.

A still further and important object of the invention lies inthe elimination of chains from the power transmitting mechanism between the primary shaft and the rotary tableJ and in the convenient and accessible location of the various necessary shafts, such as the hoisting drum shaft and the auxiliary or capstan shaft.

Tn the rotary system, a vertical drill pipe,

carrying at its lower end- Aacuttingloit,..s.v

secured to the horizontal rotary table in such manner as to cause the drill pipe to rotate ,with the table, the latter being so mounted as to provide free rotation. Hoisting mechanism, usually located to one side of the derrick and generally secured to the derrick'- frame, raises and lowers the drill pipe as is necessary during the progress of the drilli (7 .ng

secondary shaft then drives a horizontal jackshaft set at right angles thereto by means of bevel gearing, and the rotary shaft which drives the rotary table is connected to the horizontal jack shaft by means of a pair of universal joints.

With either of the systems above men-4 tioned the primary shaft or line shaft is set in bearings on the posts which also support the hoisting drum, these posts" being set on the top of the derrick side sill and extending upward to a point where they are joined to the -horizontal frame members of the derrick, so forming a part thereof. A sprocket wheel carried by the primary shaft receives a driving chain leading from the prime mover which, as before mentioned, is on a lower level.

The location of the primary shaft is, therefore, not only 'uncomfortably high above the machinery which it drives, but its location tends to cause undue vibration in the derrick frame and in the mechanism carried thereby. Then too, the tendency is to loosen the engine Vfrom its foundation and also to pull do-wn the derrick, and the vibratory forces intensified by the action of the driving chain from the line shaft set up a violent oscillation of the entire derrick structure and in the machinery carried by it so that it isv not at all an infrequent happening that the drive chains break and whiparound the derrick, and the tendency toi movement of the engine base necessitates not only a heavy foundation but also requires an extra heavy bracing against the derrick, the sum of these act-ions consequently endangering the lives of the men working in and about the der-rick, reducingv liti@ terposed between the. prime mover and the hoisting drum and is at a low level. The auxiliary shaft which. carries the catheads, as the small capstans are almost universally called in this art, is located 'above the other shafts, but it should be remembered that only a small amount of power is transmitted to thisshaft, as these small drums or capstans are only used for the convenience of the workmen in handling lslight loads. It will also be noted from the following description that the derrick floor is entirely clear except on the side where the single I shaft runs from the beve-l gearing to the rotary, and that all chains are removed from the center of drilling Operations, hence reducing to a minimum7 if not entirely eliminating 'danger from thel whipping of the chains.

ln the drawings,-

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of my device;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof partly in section; Fig. 2a (same sheet) is a continuation of the side elevation showing particularly the prime mover and its connection to the sills of the derrick; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sec-tion taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Y

The rotary table 10 is mounted upon a suitable base 11 which is securely fastened to the timber supporting the derrick floor 12. lllhe drill pipe carrying at its lower end a cutting bit is not shown as it forms no part of the present invention, but the drill stem 14 to which it is secured is shown inA Fig. 1. rl`he rotary table is provided on the lower face of its overhanging edge with bevel teeth 15 preferably shrouded, and adapted to mesh with a bevel p-inion 16 secured to the rotary shaft 17 mounted in bearings 18 in a casting 19 supported on skids 2() extending inward from sills 21. At a point between the two bearings 18, the shaft 17 is provided with a hexagonal or squared section 22 for convenience in turning the shaft with a wrench when so desired. and at its free endthis shaft 17 carries one fork of the universal joint 23, the other fork being carried by a short section 24. A clamp coupling 25 connects this short steel shaft 24 to a s1milar shaft 26 forming part. of the universal joint 28 by which the shaft 26 is connected to the drive shaft 29 mounted in bearings 30 on the bed or casting 31 secured to thelongitudinal sills 33 as shown.

rlhe primary shaft 35 is mounted in bearings 36 and 37 carried by the outward extending arms of the bed 31.

The primary shaft 35 receives power from the engine 40 by means of the drive chain 41 which engages a sprocket wheel 43 keyed to the shaft 35 at about its center and adj acent the bearing 36. rlhe engine base 42 is spaced from the sills 33 by distance pieces 44 engaging lugs or flanges 48 and 49 'on the base 42 and sills 33, respectively. A bevel gear 45 is loosely mounted adjacent the opposite bearing 37 and meshes with a pinion 46 carried by the shaft 29, which shaft is put in motion by shifting the jaw clutch 47 splined to the shaft 35 so as to engage the bevel gear 45 and loo-k saine to lthe constantly revolving shaft 35.

The drum shaft 50 is mounted in journal boxes 51 secured to the uprights 39 and carries a drum 53 of the usual type having wide flanges 54, each preferably engaging a brake band operated by a crank arm 55 upturned at one end to form a handle lever 56. This drum shaft 50 carries a pair of loose sprocket wheels 58 and 59 adapted to be locked to the lever operated clutches 60 and 61, respectively, so' as to drive the drum at a slow or fast speed as may be desired, the slow speed sprocket 58 being connected to a sprocket wheel 62 on the primary shaft by means of a chain 63 and the more rapid drive being accomplished through a chain 64 oining the sprocket Wheel 59 to a sprocket wheel 65 keyed to the primary shaft on the outside of the journal 'box 37, the last mentioned sprocket wheel being preferably of somewhat larger diameter than the sprocket wheel 62 used for the slow driveN ln addition to the above mechanism there is provided an auxiliary shaft 72 rotating in bearings 73 secured to the uprights 39 on the opposite side from the bearings 51 and at a somewhat higher elevation. At either 100 end of this shaft is permanently secured a cathead 74 and at the appropriate point on the shaft a sprocket 75 is keyed, this sprocket being connected by a chain 76 with the cooperating sprocket wheel 77 loosely 105 mounted on the primary shaft 35 and cont-rolled by a clutch 79 splined to the primary shaft and controlled by a small hand lever not4 shown, or any other convenient mechanism.

The operation of the device is believed to be apparent from the foregoing description. the prime mover which may be a motor, steam engine or any other source of power drives the shaft 35 by means of the chain 115 41 and sprocket wheel 43. The power thus transmitted to the prima-ry shaft is transmitted to the rotary table 1() through the cated on the drum shaft, whereas the clutch for controlling the operation of the auX- iliary shaft is splined to the primary shaft itself so that the cathead shaft is normally inoperative, so constructed as to be independently op, erable.

What il claim` is: 'y v l. ln a drive mechanism for a well drilling rotary drive, a primary shaft, a rotary table, shafting, a. bevel 'pinion on either end thereof, a bevel gear on said primary shaft meshing with one of said pinions, a bevel gear carriedby said rotary table for meshing with the Iother of said pinions,

, on said primary shaft for controlling the operation of said first-mentioned bevel gear, a drum shaft parallel to said primary shaft and located at a highery level than said -primary shaft, gearing connectingsaid primary shaft, and said drum shaft., a clutch mounted on said drum shaft for inoperative the drum shaft driving mechanism an auxiliary shaft parallel to said drum shaft and said primary shaft, gearing connecting said primary shaft and said auX- iliary shaft, and al but all of these mechanisms are I a clutch1 renderingv clutch mechanism car-l ried by said primary shaftv for rendering inoperative said auxiliary shaft driving mechanism. 'y

' 2. ln 4a` rotary drive mechanism, a primary shaft, a prime mover,'power transmitting' mechanism connecting said prime mover and said primary shaft, a rotary table, a sectional shaft transmitting power from said vprimary shaft to L .'said rotary table, a bed providing bearings for said sectional shaft and for said primary shaft,

a clutch mechanism mounted on said primary shaft between said bearings for rendering said sectional shaft inoperative, an

auxiliary shaft, catheads on said auxiliary shaft, means for vdriving said auxiliary shaft from said primary shaft, a drum shaft, mounted at a level substantially between said primary shaft and said auxiliary shaft, a drum on said shaft, a plurality of independent means for transmitting motion from said primary shaft to said drum shaft, and means carried by said drum shaft for rendering inoperative either or both of vsaid means.

VICTOR W. ZHJEN. 

